2016 Wood Diamond Award
Sofo Kitchens (Maple Ridge, BC)

Main Category: Bar - Commercial
Dollar Amount: Over $50,000
Sub Category: Best Overall

Briefly describe your business and the type of products manufactured.
Our company was founded in 2008 and we provide High End Residential and Commercial cabinetry. We manufacture and install
•Kitchen & Bathroom
•Built-ins architectural millwork
•Free standing custom furniture
•Home Office
•Entertainment Centers
•Wall & Ceiling Treatment
•Unique custom orders upon client request

What materials/species were used in this project/item?
The following materials were used in the construction of our project:
- Plywood interiors
- Crown moldings
- Melamine open shelves under counter
- Stained ruff cut lumber
- raised back panels around the exterior of peninsula
- 6" wide Stained butcher block on top of raised panels
Quartz countertops all around the lower TCE stone

Describe, in detail, the project/item's construction
The cabinetry consists of:
- pre-finished birch plywood
- full extension heavy duty drawers from BLUM
- bead board doors in a glazed brushed finish
- wire-brushed, reclaimed wood that was brought in all the way from Montreal from an old barn.

What is the most unusual aspect or outstanding characteristic of this entry?
Hopcott Premium Meats' is located only a few km away from our shop, in Pitt Meadows, BC, Canada and is a third-generation family butcher shop that started out as " Hopcott Farms" in 1932. We are proud to have been part of their recent expansion where we supplied them with all of the new millwork.
The recent expansion saw the retail space increasing from 9,000 - 13,000 sf. The most unusual aspect of this project was integrating part of the existing retail/shop space into their new addition. We had to make sure we keep the same style and functionality while at the same time "making the old look new and making the new blend in with the old".

How has being a member of the CMA benefited you and/or your business?
We have been proud CMA members since 2013. We turn to the membership forum for advice almost every time we are facing a dilemma; chances are there is always someone that has solved the same problem we are having and everyone is so friendly and eager to help!

We find the monthly networking events to be very useful and we try to attend whenever we can. There, we can tour other plants to gain a diferent perspective, we visit showrooms , after which we grab a few drinks with our peers.

The yearly Benchmark Study helps us tremendously in planning our budget, our marketing strategy and in making good management decisions. We would recommend the CMA to anyone looking to save money, save "trial-and-error-time" and gain extensive industry knowledge.

List any items that were outsourced.
We make all slab doors and veneers in house and we outsource the wooden doors.
Finishing is currently still being outsourced until we find a good finisher. We recently invested in a fully enclosed spray booth and all Kremiln equipment and will hopefully be able to soon start in-house finishing.